Clear Lake

Not so long ago, you could toss a dime into Orlando's Clear Lake and see the coin gleam from its sandy bottom.Today, the dime disappears as soon as it hits the water. That's because for years, pipes carrying dirty storm water laden with oil, gasoline, pesticides and even animal feces have emptied into the 368-acre lake in southwest Orlando.Fortunately, the city of Orlando has been working with Isle of Catalina residents to stop the dirty storm water from flowing into Clear Lake.But the city's cleanup program will take care of only about a ninth of the problem, according to city engineers.

A man found shot at Clear Lake Park was identified Monday as 40-year-old Marcus Jones. Orlando police originally said the man was 19 years old because that's what witnesses told them. Jones was in critical but stable condition Monday in a local hospital. Police said he was unable to talk to detectives. A man told officers he was walking through the park at 2301 29th Street about 6 p.m. Friday when he saw Jones lying on the dock on the north side of the park. He said Jones was not speaking clearly, but he could understand him. The park is east of John Young Parkway and West of Rio Grande Avenue, north of L.B. McLeod Road.

Nearby residents know Clear Lake isn't so clear, but now environmental officials say it's contaminated with sewage.Routine tests of lake water have turned up bacteria levels as high as 17 times above normal. Officials said the bacteria indicates the presence of human sewage and have asked residents to refrain from swimming or water skiing. The bacteria can cause infections in people with open wounds or cuts.Clear Lake, located west of Rio Grande Avenue in Orlando, has become a symbol of the steady decline of Central Florida's once-clean lakes.

A mobile farmer's market could soon ride to the rescue of Orange County's "food deserts. " Advocates are pushing the idea of customizing and stocking a retired LYNX bus with fresh fruits and vegetables to sell in low-income communities where full-service grocery stores and transportation options are limited. There are more than a dozen of these so-called food deserts in neighborhoods such as Clear Lake, Eatonville, Lake Mann, Oak Ridge and Parramore. The "deserts" are defined, in part, by federal officials as places where a third of local residents have to travel more than a mile to reach a grocery store.

Eight years ago when Gladys Lawson lost her wedding ring in Clear Lake in southwest Orlando, the water was so clear she could see the gold band on the bottom.Today, however, the 360-acre lake is covered with algae and white foam. Some homeowners say they often have to close their patio doors to block out the smell of algae, which smells like rotten eggs.''It's a mess,'' Lawson told about 80 homeowners at a meeting Tuesday with state and city officials to discuss a cleanup of Clear Lake.After two hours of discussion and questions, residents decided to form a task force to study the problem and recommend ways to clean up the lake, which eventually drains into Shingle Creek and the Kissimmeee River system.

By this summer, officials hope to solve the mystery of Clear Lake.Residents around the lake southwest of Orlando know it does not live up to its name - in fact, it is one of the dirtiest lakes in the county. But Orange County environmentalists are trying to figure out exactly why the lake has abnormally high bacteria levels.Within the next month, the county will install 11 monitoring wells from Grand Avenue to Interstate 4 to determine whether the bacteria is seeping into ground water through malfunctioning septic tanks.

Put more than 75,000 fish in a 320-acre lake and you'd expect catching them would be easy. Yes and no. At least as far as Orlando's Clear Lake is concerned. Since 1999, state fisheries biologists have stocked 75,700 sunshine bass in the urban lake just west of the Orange Blossom Trail. The fish is a hybrid, created by crossing white bass with striped bass, and in other places is an eager biter. Sunshine bass in the St. Johns River regularly go on feeding rampages in the cooler weather, and catching 2- to 5-pounders is easy.

Signs warning swimmers and boaters of unsafe bacteria levels were posted Thursday at two problem lakes in Orange County.The signs at Lake Fairview in north Orange County and Clear Lake in the south warn lake users that bacteria counts are higher than average and still climbing, officials said.''We're telling them (lake users) to avoid water contact activity, such as swimming and skiing,'' said Kevin McCann, who monitors lakes for Orlando's Stormwater Utilities Bureau. ''It's safe to boat.

A 35-year-old man died Saturday morning after trying to swim to shore when a johnboat he and a buddy were fishing from overturned in Clear Lake. Darrin James Martin had been fishing on the lake with a friend, 33-year-old Jimne Wesley, since about 7 a.m., Orlando police Lt. Charles Robinson said. The boat suddenly overturned about 8:30 a.m., about 150 yards from the lake's north shore, Robinson said. It was unclear if the men were wearing life jackets. Wesley told investigators that after the accident, he clung to the small boat, watching as Martin started swimming to shore, Robinson said.

There is familiar bad news for residents around Clear Lake. For the third straight year, they can't go in the water.Orange County and Orlando officials will post warning signs today that say large amounts of bacteria have left the lake unsafe for swimming or skiing.The signs are becoming as regular as the season, but the cause of the problem remains a mystery, officials say.Last year, warnings against swimming remained in effect from January until May on the lake off the Orange Blossom Trail in southwest Orange County.

OCALA – A federal jury in Ocala returned verdicts in favor of two Lake County deputy sheriffs who were accused of violating the civil rights of a Minneola landscaper they repeatedly shot with their department-issued Tasers. According to documents posted on the federal court's electronic public-access service, the jury listened to several days of testimony before deciding Friday in favor of deputies Lane Roddenberry and Shane Pitman. The Leesburg Daily Commercial covered the trial.

In a region besieged by For Sale signs sit three middle-class communities that defy the odds. Instead of constant turnover in the homes and the families that live in them, there is a stability in these west Orlando neighborhoods that's rare these days. The rest of Metro Orlando may have an average of 5 percent of all homes for sale, but in the Lake Mann, Sunset Lake and Clear Lake areas, only 1.4 percent of homes are on the market. "It is unusual," said Randy Martin, president of the Orlando Regional Realtor Association.

CLERMONT -- The sickly blue-green algae blooms found recently along parts of the Clermont Chain of Lakes likely were washed away -- at least temporarily -- by last week's holiday storms. But experts say the threat of more blooms still exists because of algae-feeding pollution flowing into the lakes. The blooms, which look like a paint slick floating on the top of the water, included potentially toxic forms of algae. They were found on lakes Minnehaha and Minneola for more than two weeks in December, prompting concerned residents to call the Lake County Water Authority.

In Clear Lake, Wis., travelers can stay at the Taylor Home Inn, a B&B where the owners have created guest rooms based on The Andy Griffith Show. A living-room replica includes Look magazines andan RCA Victor black-and-white TV. Go to taylorhomeinn.com.

EUSTIS -- From his dock, Stacey Pait scowled at the line of whitecaps rolling across East Crooked Lake, crashing into his shore and chewing at the high banks like piranha. Pait, 75, figures in the past year he has lost two feet of property, a concrete walk and landscaping to the water. He blames wakeboarding neighbors for the omnivorous waves. A few miles away, Monty Gatch, whose family has lived on Clear Lake for 40 years, circulated a petition to dock his newest neighbor's boat, a wave-making 23-footer.

Deer Island may soon be saved from an invasion of cattails.Residents of the large island separating the east and west sections of Johns Lake have joined neighbors along the shore to rid the lake of its cattail islands.Environmental biologists say that if not controlled, cattails grow too dense and harm lakes by crowding other favorable plants.Residents concerned about the lake, which straddles the Lake-Orange county line, have declared war on the cattails.The battle, scheduled to start within days, will be two-pronged.

For nearly eight years, two neighborhoods southwest of downtown Orlando worked to bring their area its first major playground complex with walking trails, covered pavilions and a pier perfect for taking in sunset views over Clear Lake. Clear Lake Park, which connects the neighborhoods of Rio Grand Park and Isle of Catalina, officially opened July 31, but the work didn't end. Less than two weeks later, Hurricane Charley tore through the 33 acres off 29th Street on the shore of Clear Lake, downing dozens of trees, lights and other equipment.

For nearly eight years, two neighborhoods southwest of downtown Orlando worked to bring their area its first major playground complex with walking trails, covered pavilions and a pier perfect for taking in sunset views over Clear Lake. Clear Lake Park, which connects the neighborhoods of Rio Grand Park and Isle of Catalina, officially opened July 31, but the work didn't end. Less than two weeks later, Hurricane Charley tore through the 33 acres off 29th Street on the shore of Clear Lake, downing dozens of trees, lights and other equipment.